New slim back cover

###My review of the slim covers.

Yesterday was the first rimswapping event hosted by the austrianfairphoners. I had ordered some spare parts for on-site repairs/exchanges/tests and a lot of slim covers for everybody who wanted one.

The order arrived a few days before the event so I had some time to get to know the covers, fell in love with the white and turquoise ones and decided to keep them. :heart_eyes:

More pics here.

Here is what I can say about the Slim Covers so far:

  • The mechanism is really well done and taking the (back of the) cover off is now easier than ever. This nearly makes up for the lack of a transparent version as you can show everybody the insides of the FP2 in seconds.
  • I didn’t experience the reboots issue as I switched Power and Camera buttons right away. It sure seems like it’s simply a mistake that the cover comes with the button that has a relief as the camera button. @Douwe did the tests you arranged bring any results?
  • As expected the white cover gets dirty easily, but you can just remove it, wash it at the sink and put it back dry and squeaky clean. :thumbsup:
  • I believe lots of people will get more than one color so they can adjust the color according to their daily mood or outfit. The fact that there are 4 cover colers, 2 button colors but just one rim-color will probably result in some spare rims laying around at home. Let’s hope the rims are the parts of the cover that break the easiest! :wink:
  • People at the event yesterday agree that Fairphone should release the design files of the slim Covers so people can print their own designs. The actual back-part of the cover is probably easily printable and if done in good quality can work together with the official rim and buttons. ( @Douwe what do you think? )
  • Maybe a artisanally talented person could try to repurpose a regular cover’s plastic part as a slim cover’s back-part. → DIY Transparent Slim Covers! :smiley:

All in all I believe the slim covers are a great upgrade, will hopefully be even more personalizable in the future and truly incorporate FP’s message:

PS: White slim-covers are also a great canvas!

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People at the event yesterday agree that Fairphone should release the design files of the slim Covers so people can print their own designs. The actual back-part of the cover is probably easily printable and if done in good quality can work together with the official rim and buttons. ( @Douwe what do you think? )

I’m a big fan of the Idea of printing the back case by our own! I am even willing to pay for the design files (possibly a license fee of 5-10 €), if money is the reason why this idea should not work.

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I am wondering about the print process you have in mind…
Do you know a way to print something that lasts on the current used cases?

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I just had shapeways.com or materialise.com in mind.

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Am I the only one to find 30€ EXTREMELY expensive for a plastic case ? :scream:

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This shouldn’t be a big problem.

Even with typical home-printers (reprap/FDM) the back covers most likely will come out usable with enough support material (or some minor changes in design). I’m still using my self-printed cover made on a very cheap printer but I’d like to try it on the original CAD-files as well. +1 for releasing the files!

BTW: I’m curious for what might actually be the reason for not publishing the CAD-data? FP did it with the FP1 - so why not with the FP2 where it would make much more sense due to it’s “openness”.

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ah yeah. I thought you meant printing a pattern on the existing covers.
But of course you could also print your own.

I’ll ask around and see if I can find this out for you.

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Somewhere in the forum I read that people have problems with charging their Fairphone 2 in the new slim case. Do you guys have the same issues and if so how do you work around that?

I don’t have any problems with charging. the hole is well aligned with the
port and a little groove ensures there is not too much distance for the
plug.

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I have this issue with my charger+slim case. It often disconnects when it does not lay in the exact right position. I have no issues with the regular case.
I also found out that the charger of my boyfriend works (there seems to be a very slight difference), so I mostly just use his cable or leave my phone untouched in the right position while charging.
What also works, is just taking off the cover for charging (what is luckily easy with the new slim cases).

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Oh of course, just taking off the cover sounds like a pretty easy way to get around that. Thanks :slight_smile:

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There are USB plugs that work better with the old Cover and such that work better with the new one. I had one that always fell out with the old cover, but sticks better with the new one. But new good cables have little barbs and therefore work well with any cover.

Well I like my slim case and so far have no problems whatsoever with it…

My only comment would be: it is slimmer compared to the original one but it’s not slim…

It’s better for my small hands but still too big (ohh how much I love my FP1!!!)

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I’m curiuos about the progress :slight_smile: any news about publishing the CAD-Data?

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I actually do have troubles with one specific cable which was from Samsung and seems to be worn out meanwhile. It has those barbs but does not connect well any more. But if I put something (eg. a pencil) underneath the plug it works :wink:

Isn’t this a big deal for anybody else? I mean, nothing says openness and transparency like a … transparent cover.

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If you search for “transparent cover” you will find out that many have criticized that transparent covers aren’t available anymore.

I read in the following comment It is coming (Android 6 launch event), that there is a possibility that fairphone publishes the slim case files, so you can print your own transparent cover :slight_smile:

@Douwe is not talking about the slim case there, but about a DIY case by @keesj.

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Ah sorry, i mixed a littlebit :confused: